Zelda III joins US VC

Nintendo's starting to roll out its heavyweights on the US Virtual Console, with this week's Super Nintendo addition of The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past among the heaviest yet. I'm not saying Link is fat like, just, you know.

At 800 Wii points, it's a steal, even though it's probably rendered upside down at 2 frames per leap year. Link to the Past is one of the most important games of the 16-bit era, and still considered by some to be the finest action RPG ever made.

It's impossible that you don't know what it's like, but I've met impossible people before, so on the off-chance: you are a little green hero; you must save the princess; you must navigate lots of dungeons through the accumulation of carefully knotted items and tools that unravel beautifully as you prance merrily through the land of Hyrule, past and present.

Not that the Wii Shop's the only way to get your hands on the game often called Zelda III, of course; you could always buy the rather excellent Game Boy Advance conversion from a few years back. And don't worry about the graphics in any case, as they're timeless. Expect Kristan to give it 5 retro stars at some point. If he knows what's good for him. And if that stuff about the framerate isn't true.

Look out for more on Virtual Console soon, with more releases lined up for the European version on Friday. In the meantime, if you've already grabbed Zelda III off the US Virtual Console, be sure to tell everyone about it below.